The Goddess of Spring
by cubanagurl
Summary: Set in 5B. The group travel into the Underworld to rescue Captain Hook from the clutches of Hades. What happens though when they meet Hades' wife, Persephone? Why does Mr. Gold want to learn more about her and what connection does she have to his Belle?
1. On to the Kingdom of the Dead

**AN** : I had this idea fresh in my mind and I had to write this. I really do want to get back to some stories, but in the meantime, I grant you this…

* * *

"We've been in this hellhole for hours and still we haven't caught sight of the pirate."

The blonde savior glanced back at the distraught, former queen. She was really being brought down by her sourpuss mood.

"He has to be here, I know it.", the blonde insisted with a lower tone.

The group trudged on through what seemed to be the ruins of their town, but really, it wasn't their town at all. The air was still, the skies were dark and gloomy with red tints lining the clouds. Most of the buildings that once stood where in shambles; the infamous clock tower/ library was crumbled, its pieces littered on the streets. There seemed to be no signs of life-well it was the Underworld's rendition of their small town.

They slowed down when one of them stopped. The impatient and former matriarch crossed her arms and huffed.

"Okay, what now, Gold?", she asked the man in a suit.

The one known as Mr. Gold shook his head with a chuckle. He sat down and rested his hand on his knee.

"Do you really think that wandering here in circles will actually help us find the bastard? Can't exactly say we're actually succeeding around here.", the impish man replied.

Emma, the blonde, was too focused on staring up ahead, just with the glimmering hope that she would see the silhouette of the man she loved.

"What else are we supposed to do? Every time we think we're getting somewhere, one of us gets stuck behind facing a trace of our past and then we're stuck trying to bring that someone out.", Mary Margaret retorted. "It's like we're in an endless cycle of suffering and we're getting nowhere! First, it's Emma when she claimed to have seen and spoken to Graham, then it was Regina seeing her mother in her office, then you _, twice_ , with your father and your son. Who knows who's next?!"

"Well, I say this is a waste of time. He's obviously not here and I'm sick of seeing people we knew and loved in the afterlife.", Regina spat.

Mr. Gold rolled his eyes at this and stood up to the former queen.

"Newsflash: we're in the _Underworld_ , you're bound to see dead people.", he said, arms thrown up in frustration.

Henry got in between his adopted mother and his grandfather.

"Hey, hey, hey, we're trying, okay?", he attempted to calm them down.

Despite Henry's attempts, everyone was still fired up. They completely avoided Henry and proceeded to rant on. The whole group, except for Emma, started bickering and yelling at each other, angry and frustrated about the predicament that they were in. Emma shut her eyes and concentrated, brows furrowing. The incessant yelling in the background annoyed the savior and she seemed to have picked up something.

"Guys! Enough!", Emma shouted. "I smell something...the sea."

Everyone grew silent and stared at Emma with risen brows.

"So what? We do live by the shore.", Regina commented in exasperation.

Emma shook her head and began to say, "What if the shore connects to the cave? When Graham came to me, he told me about a cave...the Cave of the Undead. After we went across the river, Styx, we were taken here. Maybe, Killian is in that cave."

"The cave...you didn't say that Graham told you something about a cave.", Regina ventured.

"The Cave of the Undead...it's the entrance to the Dark Kingdom. Most souls don't venture there unless they mean to consult Hades. Most don't even make it past the gate.", Mr. Gold answered.

The rest of the group looked straight at the Dark One with shared expressions of frustration.

"You seem to know a lot about the Underworld, Rumplestiltskin.", Regina spoke sourly as she approached him. "Why didn't you tell us about the cave before?!"

Just as Regina leered at this character, Robin Hood gently placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to sate her anger. If he wasn't there, she would have wrapped her hands around Mr. Gold's throat and shake him vigorously to get him to spill.

"Because I thought that when we passed the river Styx, we would be at the very entrance itself. When I was here, I was taken by Charon to where all Dark Ones go...Hell. Where we are right now, is a form of Hell, it is not the cage I was in. Like Paradise, or otherwise known as the Elysium Fields, Hell or Inferno has its different forms depending on one's particular idea of where they come from. We've all been through so much in our very own _beloved_ Storybrooke, hence why it is in its hellish form.", Mr. Gold explained.

Emma sighed and looked down.

"So, you don't think Killian is in the cave…"

"No, but I think we should still go there. We're going to have a talk with the Lord of the Undead and find how to get to the cage. Inferno is not the easiest place to trek, especially with the many forms it has. We'll try the shore. If we see the cave, we'll swim to it and hope it isn't a mirage; Inferno is nefarious for its tricks."

For once, the group agreed with Gold, although Emma was the one to have the idea first.

"Alright, let's head to the shore. Let's try and stay together." She then paused and looked at the older man. "What about Cereberus?"

"I think I might have an idea…", Regina chimed in with a growing smirk on her face.

* * *

"Some plan, Regina...you almost got killed!", Mary Margaret exclaimed.

Regina rolled her eyes and held on to her wounded side.

"Well, it got us past the gate, didn't it? Now, they're asleep like cute little puppies..or just a puppy, whatever.", she replied with several grunts.

Robin Hood tried tending to her wound.

"Hold still, stop for a moment."

Mr. Gold huffed and looked back at the struggling pair.

"If we keep slowing down, Cereberus might wake and we'll be his dinner."

Mary Margaret gave the born-again Dark one a glare.

"She's hurt, can you be any more rude?"

Mr. Gold almost growled in vexation before he almost stomped over to Regina and waved his hand over her injury.

"Now, can we avoid getting eaten?"

Regina gave him a pointed look and huffed before fixing her composure and continued walking ahead with the others.

The cavern was gloomy and frigid cold. It was dark ahead, save for a glimmer from what seemed to be candles in the halls ahead. The flames were blue, illuminating the dark walls. What made the stone corridor more uneasy was the silence, pure silence. The group dreaded to hear the growls of the three-headed dog after its slumber, hopefully the magic hold on them would last longer. A shredded curtain was ahead of them instead of a door. Behind the curtain, the gloom of the cavern seemed brighter, which meant they were probably close.

"This should be it...", Henry murmured, staying right behind his birth mother.

Emma took a deep breath before moving the curtain aside. Ahead of them was a throne room. It was dark, but what made the room slightly brighter than the corridor was the chandelier hanging above them with, like the torches, blue flames alight. Instead of finding the supposed Lord, they found emptiness.

"Where...is he?", David spoke aloud.

The group hadn't picked up their volume since their trek back in the Inferno version of Storybrooke.

Emma lightly shushed her father when she heard steps. They all stood still as if movement meant instant death. They expected the Lord of the Undead himself approach them with his grim presence, but instead, they saw a smaller figure in the shadows. The figure emerged from the shadows, a petite figure, a woman with a long and dark gown with thorns adorned around her pale arms like bracelets. This woman had dark masses of curls with thorns weaving around them as well and on top of her head was a thorned crown, as if it used to have live flowers on it.

What surprised them about the woman the most was that she looked familiar, way _too_ familiar. Her presence paralyzed them, made even Rumplestiltskin pale and almost fall to the ground in shock.

The woman's piercing cerulean eyes narrowed before her rosy lips lifted into a small smirk.

"Welcome to the Underworld. I'm Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld."

The group was at a loss for words...when finally, the most shocked of them of all spoke before seeing nothing but darkness...

"B-Belle?"

* * *

 **Annnnnnddd end! I hope you guys liked this so far. I will be writing another chapter soon. I want to know what you guys think, should I write another chapter? ;)**


	2. There is Beauty in Darkness

**AN:** Here's the second chapter, yo! I hope you guys enjoy this. Let the craziness continue…

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest, some centuries ago…**_

We open here in a small village in the Frontlands. There are several children playing outside, pretending they were knights and ogres. The sky was a baby blue and it was such a beautiful day. The children played on like there was no worry in the world, not knowing of the dark times that lie ahead.

"I am Sir Glock! You've met your match, monster!", a tall, thin boy with red hair shouted to another.

Another boy, one not much shorter, puffed up his cheeks and stomped on the ground while tossing a stone up and down his hand.

"I crush you with this boulder, tiny human! Then, I have you and the boulder as a snack!", the other shouted with an exaggerated deep tone.

"Please help me, Sir Glock!", a little girl shouted. She was a cute little one with blonde pigtails with a tiny handkerchief in her tiny clutch.

"Okay, milady, I'll save ya!", the tall one exclaimed.

The children pretended to fight as their laughter wafted throughout the village. One boy watched from afar. He looked from a window with a soft sigh.

"Rumplestiltskin!"

The young boy, known as Rumplestiltskin, immediately went over to one of the women who called him. He had a sack over his shoulder, getting ready to go out the market.

"Yes, ma'am?", he responded politely.

The woman handed him some gold. She then ruffled his hair.

"Some extra gold for more bales of hay, m'boy. The expenses are rising up.", she told the boy.

Rumplestitskin looked at the gold on the palm of his hand. He then squeezed it in his hand and nodded curtly.

"Anything else, ma'am?", he asked her.

The woman kissed the crown of his head and smiled.

"No, dear, just that you return home safe."

At that, Rumplestiltskin returned the smile and gave her a little wave before heading out. His eyes wandered to the children playing. He then averted his gaze and tried to walk past them quickly.

"Hey Glock, look: it's Rumplestiltskin!"

Rumplestiltskin froze in his tracks as he held on to his sack. He shut his brown eyes and dreaded to turn around the face the other children.

"So it is…", said Glock, the taller boy as he approached Rumplestiltskin. "Hey orphan, what 'ave you got there?"

Rumplestiltskin was hoping not to run into Glock. Glock was the bossiest kid in the village. He'd bully other children into doing as he commanded, whether to play games with him (being sure that he was the valiant knight and you were the monster) or do his chores for him. He mainly picked on Rumple, mostly because he was seen as an orphan.

"Nothing…", Rumple uttered softly. "I-I'm just heading to the market to pick up some supplies."

The shorter boy tried proceeding ahead, but Glock blocked his way.

"Ha, look, Shorty-Stiltskin here is doing work for the old women. They'll probably make him into a little maid!", Glock sneered as he shoved Rumple lightly.

The other children laughed at this, whether it was because it was funny to them or if they were scared if they didn't laugh along with him.

Rumplestiltskin blushed hard and frowned. He crossed his small arms.

"I'm no maid!", he protested. "I'm not even a girl!"

Glock smirked and shook his head as he chuckled.

"Oooh! This maid is feisty. She's all fired up because she knows it's true. Will you spin me some straw, maid? Maybe some new clothes? I bet he helps make them dresses!"

The poor boy was used to taking this in, but it still hurt to hear those things. No matter what he said or did, Glock would keep on going.

"I don't make dresses!", Rumple mustered.

Glock couldn't stop laughing. He nearly rolled on the floor with laughter. He patted Rumple's back harshly and smirked.

"Yea, you wouldn't be making dresses if your daddy never left ya. Where was it he left ya, Neverland?", Glock spoke cruelly. "This kid is nuts!", he added with a guffaw.

Rumplestiltskin looked down, clenching his fists. He told himself to never swing a fist. He remembered how his father was. After a fight, he would always have to take care of him. His father was always drunk and violently so. The poor kid had been exposed to so much at such a young age.

Instead of saying anything else, the boy walked ahead, leaving the raucous laughter behind. He held on to his sack as he looked down at the leaves on the ground. He was now in the woods, a place where he could think and try to relax on the way to the market. Rumplestiltskin hated to hear about his father. His father had abandoned him, making him feel worthless and unwanted. It was a painful memory to see him from a distance as he was pulled away from him. He was all he had. His mother had died when he was too young to remember.

He hated living in that village. He was always picked on and ridiculed. Some looked down on him because of his father's choices. They often speculated whether the boy would grow up to be like his father just because he was his father's son. They didn't see Rumple for who he was. He was a caring boy, one who just wanted to be loved, one who wanted to be respected. He was grateful for those two women taking him in, but it wasn't the same.

Rumplestiltskin sniffled softly and tried not to cry. His eyes burned and his throat throbbed. He hated to cry and he had done that very often when he was on his own. He stopped his walking as he kicked at a tree then with a small grunt of frustration. He then picked up a stick and tossed it with fury. He wanted to scream and just run away. He slid by a tree and sighed as he relaxed. Getting angry over this was futile. He would just have to go through life and accept that it just wasn't fair.

He rested his head on his knees as he took some steady breaths. He needed to cool down before he could go on ahead to his duties. He flinched then hearing a rustle. His head popped up as he narrowed his brown eyes. He slowly stood up, sliding up against the rough tree. He heard the rustle again, also seeing some branches move. He gulped lightly and tilted his head.

"H-hullo?", he called out.

He stood still when he heard no answer. He then shrugged thinking that it could have just been the light Autumn breeze. He was about to walk forward when he heard a soft voice.

"What troubles you, child?"

Rumplestiltskin slowly turned around to face a figure. It was a woman clad in a dark hood and cape. It covered her face, leaving a shadow, albeit her lips were revealed, rosy pink lips. Brown waves cascaded from the hood to her chest. Her presence stilled the area, making the skies a bit darker than they were before. The boy watched her cautiously as he stood still. The figure slowly approached him.

"Don't be afraid…", the soothing voice spoke again. "I won't hurt you. I'm just passing these woods."

Rumple seemed to be a bit more calm now. The woman was mysterious and she seemed dark, but her voice was so calming and sweet. As if noticing his change of countenance, the woman smiled and asked again, "What troubles you?"

Rumple stood up straight and twiddled his fingers lightly before answering as he cleared his throat, "N-nothing, miss. I'm fine."

The woman tilted her head as if observing him.

"Judging by your outburst earlier, I'd say otherwise.", she responded.

Rumple rose a brow at her, wondering who she was and where she came from. He knew most of the people from his village, and had seen familiar faces here and there at the market, but he had never seen her before. He even wondered how long she had been watching him.

"How...long have you been here?", he asked her.

The woman shrugged as she sat on a log.

"Long enough, enough to see that a young lad like yourself is clouded over by sadness. Most children I've seen are merry and have no troubles in the world. What makes you frown?"

Rumple watched the woman before he looked at the ground and lightly kicked the ground.

"Nothing worth dwelling over.", he stated.

"If it isn't worth dwelling over, then why does it stay in your mind?"

Rumple wasn't sure whether he wanted to tell what bothered him to a stranger, even though she didn't seem so bad.

"It's...not something I like to talk about.", he admitted.

The woman sighed before she clicked her tongue lightly. She pulled out something, a fruit, before cutting it in half.

"That's fine. Some subjects are too much to bring up, but sometimes talking about it does help.", the woman spoke wisely. She picked up one half of the fruit and picked at a seed before she looked up at the boy. "Pomegranate?", she offered.

The boy shook his head with a weak smile.

"No thank you."

The woman shrugged lightly as if saying 'suit yourself'. She started to eat the fruit before she started to speak again. "I've traveled far and wide and I've been dying for some company. I would like to hear your tale and maybe I can help ease your sadness."

Rumple hated talking about it, but when did he really open up to someone? He never talked about it to the women who looked after him, in fact, they never brought it up knowing how it upsetted him. He shook his head lightly.

"I uh...I should get going. I need to pick up some supplies from the market.", he told her.

The woman tilted her head before she nodded lightly.

"Why yes, of course, I shouldn't keep you then, I apologize.", she replied with what seemed to be a weak smile.

Rumple was about to turn and leave, but then sighed. The woman was only offering to help. He figured it wouldn't be long then and his aunties shouldn't have to worry. He glanced at the woman in black before he gave a small grin.

"I suppose...I've been keeping it on for so long.", the young boy conceded.

The woman patted the log so he could sit next to her and tell her his tale.

* * *

Mr. Gold's vision cleared as he saw her face again. He quickly sat up and furrowed his eyebrows in his confused state.

"Belle? W-what are you doing here?", he asked her.

The woman, who resembled Belle, tilted her head in wonder as she gently shushed him.

"Relax, you just blacked out. Belle, huh? Now, _that's_ new."

Mr. Gold narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger at her.

"Then, you're playing tricks on me. Who are you, and what do you want?", he spat, eyes darkening. He did not liked to be tricked.

The woman looked quite amused at his behavior. She gently patted a cloth on his head and was not the least bit threatened by him.

"I assure you, Dark One, I play no tricks.", she replied. "As I stated earlier, I am Persephone. I am The wife of Hades and I am Queen of the Underworld."

Mr. Gold watched her carefully, not knowing whether to take her word for it or not.

"I see you are still dubious.", the Queen of the Undead added on. She stopped with patting his forehead. "If I were to trick you, I'd pretend to be this _Belle_ you had confused me for."

Persephone then stood up and set the cloth in a bowl held by a thin, pallid figure. Mr. Gold blinked when he noticed the servant was a skeleton. The skeleton bowed his head before leaving the room.

"If you are wondering about your friends, they are at a meeting with my husband."

Mr. Gold watched her, just stunned at her appearance. He did not say a word for a while.

"Still stunned are you?", the goddess asked with a small smirk.

Mr. Gold finally found his words and cleared his throat.

"You...could be her twin...", he spoke softly.

Persephone rose a brow at that and chuckled softly.

"How odd, I don't recall ever having a sister. Well, whoever she is, she looks like me, I don't look like her.", she emphasized the last part. "I've no explanation for our resemblance."

Some glint in her cerulean eye told Mr. Gold that she knew something.

"Right...", he murmured.

"How upsetting...", Persephone drawled on. "That we never did get to meet the first time you came here. Your stay was rather short."

Mr. Gold sat on the edge of the layout couch he had been laying on.

"It's not like this place was exactly inviting.", he uttered.

Persephone glanced at him after looking at her person in the mirror. She didn't seem upset by his comment, actually she agreed.

"Yea, not a lot of souls want to stick around, but not many get the chance to escape like you."

Mr. Gold scoffed lightly at that.

"It's not like I could.", he told her. "I was brought back..." his tone softened then. "By my son."

Persephone was quiet for a while before she stood up and placed a hand on her hip.

"Still, no other Dark One has ever managed to do what you've done, let alone escape their fate."

Mr. Gold shrugged.

"Well, I guess I'm just that lucky."

He never understood how he ever got so lucky. He was lucky to ever have a wonderful woman like Belle love him, to even be looked at as a hero.

Persephone seemed to pick up on his demeanor and placed her cold, yet soft hand on his shoulder. Mr. Gold furrowed his brows since, although she wasn't Belle as she claimed, her touch felt very familiar.

"Come, I suspect the others are worried about you. Besides, I think my husband would love to meet the man who's escaped Inferno."


	3. You Shouldn't Be Here

**AN:** Sorry for the long wait, folks! I shall resume with this story despite the different plot going on in the show. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I do love feedback!

* * *

"My lady?"

"Yes?"

"The people of Storybrooke have arrived to retrieve their _friend._ "

A tall, thin figure stood at the doorway of the Queen of the Undead's chamber. This particular pallid servant of hers was one who was the closest to her. He would tell her everything and anything she needed to hear. This particular news didn't faze her at first. In fact, she wondered why he was telling her this.

"I'm not quite sure why you're telling _me_ this. I assume you addressed this to my husband?", the fair and beautiful Queen questioned as she brushed her long and brown curls.

The skeletal servant was quiet for a few moments before he silently approached her, revealing himself in her mirror.

"The Dark One is with them.", the figure spoke to her grimly.

The Queen paused and turned in her seat with an arched brow. Her blue eyes narrowed as she took this news in.

"You cannot possibly mean…"

"Yes, my Queen, Rumplestiltskin is here. You can see for yourself."

At this, Persephone turned back toward the mirror and waved her hand over it. It was as her servant had spoken, Rumplestiltskin was here. She placed her hand on the cold mirror when his visage was revealed. She shut her eyes and sighed.

"Why are you here?", she murmured softly. "You shouldn't be here."

* * *

The group tried to make their negotiations with the King. No matter what they tried to do, the King refused to let go a soul. He was a businessman, sure, but if it involved releasing a soul from his domain, he wasn't going to budge.

Mr. Gold knew that they would get nowhere with this. He rolled his eyes as the 'heroes' thought they had a way to fetch the pirate, but he knew better. He was just lucky that he was brought back even if his son didn't care about the consequences. He wasn't paying much attention to the God now; his eyes wandered to the God's wife who had this stark resemblance of his own wife. She sat by her husband's side, but with a far-away look in her cerulean eyes and that stare looked all too familiar. She seemed like she was... _bored_ , as if she was dreaming about being in another world. Her fair, small hand rested on her chin as her thin fingers drummed on her cheek bone. She had that visage of Belle when she was thinking, but something was different about her; it was as if the light in those bright blue eyes had dimmed. Her face was very pale, no rosiness in her cheeks, but still her eyes were bright (even if they were subdued a smidge) and her lips so red. The thorns in her hair probably used to be a flowery crown and it must've brightened her features. It seemed like she was this ill-refined version of her former self, but with some light creeping in.

Nonetheless, he was drawn to her. It didn't help much that she looked _exactly_ like the woman he loved. What was odd, though, is that not only did she look like her. He shut his eyes, remembering when she touched his shoulder. He remembered how it felt exactly like Belle was there, touching his shoulder, standing by him. She even smelt like her, her voice, everything was exactly like her, except what it seemed to be a broken spirit. He re-opened his eyes and noticed she was gone from Hades' side. The group was still in front of him, trying to get Hades to negotiate.

Where did she go? Mr. Gold looked over to see her shadow over a wall as she disappeared into a corridor. He sighed, not believe what he was about to do. He slipped away from the group as they were distracted and followed the Queen into the corridor.

* * *

 _ **Enchanted Forest… 29 years ago; Dark Castle**_

It was dark and windy outside, snow cascaded gently and lodged itself against the window pane. The weather outside made the inside of the grand estate quite frigid. It made even the Dark One shiver lightly. He kept spinning nevertheless, focused on the wheel. He loved the way the the straw felt in between his fingers, though it would be nothing compared to feeling his maid's soft hair. He thought about her from time to time and when she would pop up into his mind, he could never get her out of it. He was so drawn to her and it made him 'sick' to his stomach.

Luckily, she had retired to her room; he was able to breathe steadily. Every time he saw her, his breathing would hitch and he stared at her, stunned by her beauty. He would always become distracted when she entered the room, with her cheery demeanor and her addicting scent. He would occasionally watch her dust, the way her hips swayed a bit as she cleaned. He couldn't help himself, he had to watch her. His maid was a stunning creature and he thought that she would be the death of him.

It grew colder in the room all of a sudden, although the fire in the fireplace was still active. It made the Dark One shudder and mess up on his spinning. He tossed the needle aside in frustration before he got up and sped uncharacteristically to the hearth. He rubbed his hands together to warm up some more. His gaze bored into the flames of the fireplace until he heard the thud of what seemed to be one of the windows. He froze and frowned as he distinctly remembered Belle locking up all of the windows. He was cautious now as he turned on his heel to see the large window near him slightly opened. He walked over to the window, shutting it tightly and locked it. The wind outside must have been strong and somehow broke through the lock. He decided not to worry until he felt a certain darkness in the room. It was cold, and gloomy around him now. Something...or someone was in the castle. He quickly grabbed a candelabra and rushed out of the room into the foyer. He turned about quickly as if trying to catch a figure.

"Who's there?", he called out.

Nothing answered the Dark One, which worried him. As he got near the stairwell, the dark presence grew stronger. Rumplestiltskin hurried up the steps, fearing where this dark force was headed. He had hoped it was going where he thought it was. As he ascended the steps, the presence seemed to advance. He clenched his fist, ready to send this presence hurdling out a window, possibly.

"Come out, come out, dearie…", he spoke in now an unsteady tone.

He proceeded to the corridor ahead, but felt nothing there. He backed up slowly to the next set of stairs that led up to the tower and his heart dropped. The darkness was strong in that direction. His reptilian eyes widened...fearing the worst.

"B-Belle…", he murmured just as he rushed up the steps. "BELLE?!", he yelled as he neared the room he set up for her.

Rumplestiltskin got to the top of the stairs and froze in place. He saw a dark hooded figure standing over the bed that was set up by one of the bookshelves. Belle was still asleep soundly as the figure watched her. A pale hand was over the sheets and the figure's head seemed to be tilted as it watched her. The Dark One lurched forward with the candelabra with a menacing stare.

"Get away from her!", he spat with clenched teeth.

The hooded figure turned its head towards the Dark One. Shadows were formed across the chin, but a pair of bright rosy lips were revealed into a sad smile before it disappeared into mist. This confused the Dark One. He was frozen on the spot. He marched over to the big window in front of him and shined the flame over the glass, trying to see where the figure went. He could have sworn he had seen the figure before, but couldn't place his finger on it. It didn't seem threatening, but he didn't know its intentions. He worried about his maid, paranoid that others knew about his secret affection for her.

"R-Rumple?", a sleepy, soft voice spoke up.

The Dark One didn't realize his maid woke up from all of the yelling. He didn't turn to face her. He was too busy looking outside, trying to be sure that nothing else dared to come inside. He slightly flinched then when he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, w-what's going on? I heard you yelling…", Belle whispered as she tilted her head.

Rumplestiltskin shut his eyes as he took in her touch. She always had this way of calming him down and he didn't know how she did it.

"I-I thought I saw something like a creature of sorts…", he finally responded.

He then shrugged off her touch and shook his head as he shut her curtains abruptly

"It was nothing.", he then said with a grunt.

Belle watched him incredulously and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are you sure?", she asked. "You seemed…"

"It was nothing.", Rumple insisted in a harsher tone.

The last thing he wanted to do was worry her. He just wanted her to rest and be calm. He didn't want her to feel unsafe in his home. He headed towards the stairwell before she spoke again.

"If you say so…", she began before taking a small hitched breath. "Good night."

The beastly man lightly drummed his dark nails against the railing of the stairs. He didn't know whether her breathing was due to her being shaken up or because of his presence. He didn't think she would ever feel the way he felt around her, so he assumed she was just shaken up by the situation. He nodded curtly before whispering back to her softly.

"Good night, Belle."

 _ **Storybrooke- 29 years later**_

Belle turned off the lights in the pawnshop before grabbing her purse and the car keys. She locked the shop and sighed as she walked to her husband's car. She couldn't believe that after all they had been through, her husband had to go somewhere yet again without her. She was glad that he was being brave about this and she tried being brave for him, but the _Underworld_? The idea of him not coming back irked her. The Underworld had to be dangerous and even she knew it wasn't a good idea. She thought back to their good-bye as she drove to their salmon-colored home. She missed his voice, his presence, just everything.

" _Just come back to me…"_

" _I always do."_

Belle was a bit more relieved to hear him say that, but she was still worried. She parked at the driveway and tread lightly into the house. She got ready for bed and looked outside her window. She gently touched the glass of the window and shut her blue eyes, just picturing herself touching his face.

"You shouldn't be there…", Belle murmured softly to herself.

* * *

 **Annnnddd cut! I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter. Let me know if you guys want me to continue. I hope you guys caught the parallel in this chapter ;) Yes, there are some elements from last night's episode in here, but most of the story will veer off from the canon plot. Thanks for reading! :))**


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